We can barely keep track of all the acts of resistance to the illegal and immoral actions of the US Executive Branch: There’s the May 1st International Workers Day Rally and March at the MN Capitol (our SURJ-TC contingent will be there – details below) and in cities around the country. There are union strikes and newly unionized businesses…Encampments in defense of Migrants being snatched off the streets…Sanctuary churches…Harvard standing up in the face of funding cuts…challenges by lawyers, District and Federal judges…Governor Walz barnstorming in Republican districts against cutting the Education Department. As the suffering of the people of Gaza escalates, resistance on campuses and in the streets continue.
Many people, communities and organizations are in grave danger. And the courage to resist is contagious, as the Nation Magazine headlined its April editorial. There is much to do, whether it is caring for neighbors who are at risk, protecting a family member, or joining a mass action, this is an excellent moment to show up for racial justice. Might some of us go out of our comfort zones? Maybe! Yet support of each other to be bold is inherent in each of the actions above, and in today’s newsletter. See you there!
In this issue:
- MAY 1 RALLY and MARCH for Migrant and Worker Rights
- SURJ-TC Community Coffees
- SURJ-TC Welcome Gathering
- Join the SURJ-TC Action Alert Text Tree
- Kingian Nonviolence 16-Hour Core Training
- Reparations Act in the MN Legislature
SURJ EVENTS
MAY 1 RALLY and MARCH for Migrant and Worker Rights at MN Capitol
International Workers’ Day is celebrated on May 1, worldwide. Across the U.S. on Thursday, May 1, 2025, a coalition of Labor, immigrant & Indigenous rights organizations, SURJ-National, and more have put together rallies in 100 locations so far!
Locally the event is from 4:30-6:30 at the MN Capitol, sponsored by MIRAC, MN Workers United, Kalpulli Ketzal Coatlique, Asamblea de Derechos Civiles, MN8, CAIR-MN, Indigenous Protector Movement and more.
Our SURJ-TC contingent is showing up! We will meet at the WWII Memorial on the Capitol grounds at 4:00–30 minutes before the rally starts. We want to be sure to find each other and attend the Rally together. Look for our new SURJ-TC red and white banner! We invite all of us to wear red & white, too. Then we’ll move as a group towards the Capitol shortly before 4:30 to join the Rally together.
Please join us at 4pm Thur 5/1 – see all the details and RSVP here.
Please join us at 4pm Thur 5/1 – see all the details and RSVP here. See you there!!
For More:
There are also LOTS of great labor actions the entire week of May Day: check them out and support worker power!
SURJ-TC Community Coffees
As part of our effort of building a local network of anti-racist white folks, we continue to have our SURJ-TC Community Coffees on a monthly basis. This is a relational space for being in conversation with other SURJ-TC members, Gear-Up Circles, and your neighbors. It is a place to refresh and find rest to support ourselves for the marathon of resistance.
Our next few Community Coffees are as follows. Please note that these are rolling times, so you’re welcome to come for all or part of the meet up.
Saturday, May 31st, 11am – 1pm, Flava Cafe (St. Paul)
Sunday, June 22nd, 10am – 12pm, Bichota Coffee (South Mpls)
If you’d like to added to a calendar invite, please email surjtc.members@gmail.com
SURJ-TC Welcome Gathering
Being in community is a powerful support and antidote to disruptions and changes all around us. This Welcome Gathering is an opportunity for you to learn more about us and see if we could be a potential community ~ a political home ~ for you. We are offering a Welcome Gathering on Tuesday, May 20th from 7:00pm – 8:30pm over Zoom. We will share stories about anti-racism in our lives and then talk about how you can get more involved with SURJ-TC and how we can support you in deepening your commitment to racial justice work.
Please register if you would like to attend. We will send the Zoom link, along with a reminder a few days before.
We offer Welcome Gatherings regularly, so if you are interested and can’t make this one, keep an eye on the newsletter for future dates.
Join the SURJ-TC Action Alert Text Tree
Are you interested in receiving in-the-moment alerts and updates regarding anti-fascist events? Are you looking for opportunities to meet up with other SURJ-TC members at protests? We are pleased to invite you to join an Action Alert Text Group for SURJ-TC!
The text alert system uses the Signal app, for its encryption. Interested participants receive an invitation to the Signal group in which anyone can post action alerts. We create unique Signal threads for specific events so that attendees can arrange rides, meet up at events, and sometimes unpack the experience together.
If you are interested in joining please complete this google form. After you sign up, you will receive your invitation on Signal! (If you don’t already have the Signal Messenger app, you can download it for free from any app store.)
COMMUNITY EVENTS OF INTEREST
Kingian Nonviolence 16-Hour Core Training
May 9-11
Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church
Want to learn about nonviolent organizing from the tradition of MLK and the Civil Rights Movement?
In May, SURJ member Peter Digitale Anderson will be co-leading a training in Kingian Nonviolence. Together, we will immerse ourselves in the principles and steps of nonviolence through interactive modules that will equip you with tools for organizing for justice and peace after the teachings of Dr. King and the wider Civil Rights Movement. The training itself is an experience of being the beloved community together, and we hope to have a diverse group that will bring unique contexts, perspectives, questions and experiences to our training together.
Register by May 1: https://forms.gle/SMeeep2RTuCDg75BA
Share via Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/share/167KzqTFEs/
Reparations Act in the MN Legislature
A bill which aims to address the historical and ongoing impacts of slavery and systemic racism on descendants of chattel slaves has been introduced in the last three sessions of the state legislature. This year it’s getting farther than ever, and may receive an informational hearing in the next month! It has three sponsors in the House, and five in the Senate – including Sandy Pappas, an influential senator.
The key provisions of the bill include:
- Issuing a formal apology and acknowledgment from the state for various historical injustices, such as holding Dred and Harriet Scott in military slavery at Fort Snelling; the Duluth lynching in 1921; the construction of I-94 and other highways that harmed Black communities; and the systemic racism that has prevented upward mobility for families affected by chattel enslavement.
- Creating an advisory council to analyze the past economic benefits of slavery and institutional racism; develop criteria for compensation; and provide recommendations on how to reverse the injuries and provide appropriate policies, programs, and rehabilitation.
- Appropriating $500,000 in fiscal year 2025 from the workforce development fund to the Council for Minnesotans of African Heritage to support the work of the advisory council.
Given the amount of work remaining in this legislative session, no one can predict when these bills (HF2094 in the House; SF2368 in the Senate) may be heard. Watch for an announcement in the Action Alert Text Tree!
GET INVOLVED WITH SURJ-TC!
SURJ-TC is a local chapter of Showing Up for Racial Justice, a national organization organizing white people to build the political will to end white supremacy. White people have been told for years by Black, Indigenous, and people of color that we need to educate and organize our own people. So that’s what we try to do. Learn more at www.surjtc.org. SURJ-TC is one of 150 chapters and affiliates nationwide. Learn about SURJ National at surj.org.
Our work is local and so are our volunteers. Within this volunteer-driven culture, we strive always to make our work as transparent and non-hierarchical as we know how while holding ourselves accountable to our mission of ending white supremacy and implementing our theory of change (i.e., self-education, action, and calling in more white people).
We welcome volunteers in our working groups and teams and can offer a variety of tasks and areas of interest. If you’d like to find out more or are interested in other ways to get involved, email showingupforracialjusticemn@gmail.com.